How to Properly Configure TLS Connections Using Self-Signed Certificates?

Establishing TLS Connections with Self-Signed Certificates

When establishing TLS connections using self-signed certificates, it is crucial to properly configure the client and server sides to avoid certificate-related errors.

Client Considerations

The client code should add the self-signed server certificate to its CA pool. This pool contains certificates trusted by the client. By adding the server certificate to the pool, the client effectively trusts it.

This can be achieved using the tls.Config structure, as shown in the code snippet provided:

CA_Pool := x509.NewCertPool()
serverCert, err := ioutil.ReadFile("./cert.pem")
if err != nil {
    log.Fatal("Could not load server certificate!")
}
CA_Pool.AppendCertsFromPEM(severCert)

config := tls.Config{RootCAs: CA_Pool}

Server Considerations

For self-signed certificates, the server must have the same certificate added as its own root CA. This ensures that the server is authorized to issue certificates to itself.

To achieve this, use the following code snippet:

cert, err := tls.LoadX509KeyPair("./cert.pem", "./key.pem")
config := tls.Config{Certificates: []tls.Certificate{cert}}

Common Mistake

A common mistake when generating self-signed certificates is not setting the IsCA flag. This flag indicates that the certificate can be used as a CA. Without this flag, the certificate may fail to verify its own signature.

The correct code should include the following:

x509.CreateCertificate(&opts, &opts, &rootTemplate, rootKey)

By setting the IsCA flag, the self-signed certificate will be generated properly, and the client will be able to verify the server's certificate chain successfully.

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